@@@ 8 Types Of Friends You Need To Have in Your Life @@@

1. A Loyal Best Friend

This is the kind of friend who lets you be a hot mess and knows all of your deepest and darkest secrets, but still loves you all the same.


2. A Fearless Adventurer.

We all need an adventurous friend who will pull us out of our shells and introduce us to new ideas, cultures, philosophies, and activities.


3. A Brutally Honest Confidant.

Friends are supposed to be honest with each other. If you find someone who is brutally honest with you (in a constructive way), then hold on to this person! People like that are hard to come by these days.


4. A Wise Mentor.

We all need a friend who inspires us to be better people without making us feel inadequate. Plus, being around such a person will challenge us to better ourselves every day.


5. A Friend From a Different Culture.

If everyone had a friend from a different culture, the world would be a much better place. Being in a cross-cultural friendship allows you to explore customs, values, and traditions outside of your own culture.


6. A Polar Opposite.

Instead of constantly surrounding yourself with like-minded people, try to break out of your comfort zone and befriend people who hold opposing views. They will help open your eyes to different world views and you’ll learn to accept people who don’t see the world exactly the way you see it.


7. A Friendly Neighbor.

These days, a lot of people don’t know their own neighbors. It’s a shame, because some neighbors can be the nicest and most helpful people ever.


8. A Work Pal.

Your work pal doesn’t have to be your best friend outside of work. They just need to be someone you click with on some level, and if you two hit it off exceptionally well, you can always start hanging out with them outside of the office.

I know that a Teacher is different from a Guru, but never knew that they are different in so many ways.
I know "All Gurus are Teachers; But all teachers are not Gurus".
If you get not only a Guru but also a "Satguru", you are the most blessed one.

A teacher takes responsibility of your growth
A Guru makes you responsible for your growth.

A teacher gives you things you do not have and require
A Guru takes away things you have and do not require.

A teacher answers your questions
A Guru questions your answer

A teacher helps you get out of the maze
A Guru destroys your maze


A teacher requires obedience and discipline from the pupil
A Guru requires trust and humility from the pupil

A teacher clothes you and prepares you for the outer journey
A Guru strips you naked and prepares you for the inner journey

A teacher is a guide on the path
A Guru is the pointer to the way

A teacher sends you on the road to success
A Guru sends you on the road to freedom

When the course is over you are thankful to the teacher
When the discourse is over you are grateful to the Guru

A teacher explains the world and its nature to you
A Guru explains yourself and your nature to you

A teacher makes you understand how to move about in the world
A Guru shows you where you stand in relation to the world

A teacher gives you knowledge and boosts your ego
A Guru takes away your knowledge and punctures your ego

A teacher instructs you
A Guru constructs you

A teacher sharpens your mind
A Guru opens your mind

A teacher shows you the way to prosperity
A Guru shows the way to serenity

A teacher reaches your mind
A Guru touches your soul

A teacher gives you knowledge
A Guru makes you wise

A teacher gives you maturity
A Guru returns you to innocence
 

A teacher instructs you on how to solve problems
A Guru shows you how to resolve issues

A teacher is a systematic thinker
A Guru is a lateral thinker

A teacher will punish you with a stick
A guru will punish you with compassion

A teacher is a pupil what a father is to son
A Guru is to pupil what mother is to her child

One can always find a teacher
But Guru has to find and accept you

A teacher leads you by the hand
A Guru leads you by example

When a teacher finishes with you, you graduate
When a Guru finishes with you, you celebrate

$$$$$ Work, Family, Health, Friends & Spirit $$$$$

"Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. 
Name them -Work, Family, Health, Friends Spirit.

You Are keeping all of them in the air. 

You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. 

But the other four balls - 
Family, Health, Friends and Spirit - are made of glass. 
If you drop one of these,
they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. 

You must understand that and strive for it."

!!!!!!!!THE TONGUE CAN BE YOUR WORST ENEMY!!!!!!!!

THE TONGUE CAN BE YOUR WORST ENEMY!

Your words, your dreams, and your thoughts have power to create conditions in your life. What you speak about, you can bring about. 

If you keep saying you can't stand your job, you might lose your job.

If you keep saying you can't stand your body, your body can become sick.

If you keep saying you can't stand your car, your car could be stolen or just stop operating.

If you keep saying you're broke, guess what? You'll always be broke.

If you keep saying you can't trust a man or trust a woman, you will always find someone in your life to hurt and betray you.

If you keep saying you can't find a job, you will remain unemployed.

If you keep saying you can't find someone to love you or believe in you, your very thought will attract more experiences to confirm your beliefs.

If you keep talking about a divorce or break up in a relationship, then you might end up with it. 
Turn your thoughts and conversations around to be more positive and power packed with faith, hope, love and action.

Don't be afraid to believe that you can have what you want and deserve.

Watch your Thoughts, they become words.
Watch your Words, they become actions.
Watch your Actions, they become habits.
Watch your Habits, they become character.
Watch your Character, for it becomes your Destiny. 

The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settle for.

Thought I would share this with you. 

In the search for Me, I discovered Truth.
In the search for Truth, I discovered Love.
In the search for Love, I discovered GOD.
And in God, I have found Everything. 
Be Blessed

Watch how your circumstances and situations begin to change when you change the way you speak.

'Life is like melted butter. . once things cool down, it can be reshaped!'

$$ Pencil and Rubber and You $$

Pencil and Rubber and You

Pencil: I'm sorryEraser: For what? You didn't do anything wrong.
Pencil: I'm sorry because you get hurt because of me. Whenever I made a mistake, you're always there to erase it. But as you make my mistakes vanish, you lose a part of yourself. You get smaller and smaller each time.
Eraser: That's true. But I don't really mind. You see, I was made to do this. I was made to help you whenever you do something wrong. Even though one day, I know I'll be gone and you'll replace me with a new one, I'm actually happy with my job. So please, stop worrying. I hate seeing you sad.
I found this conversation between the pencil and the eraser very inspirational.
Parents are like the eraser whereas their children are the pencil. They're always there for their children, cleaning up their mistakes. Sometimes along the way, they get hurt, and become smaller / older, and eventually pass on.

Though their children will eventually find someone new (spouse), but parents are still happy with what they do for their children, and will always hate seeing their precious ones worrying, or sad. All my life, I've been the pencil.

And it pains me to see the eraser that is my parents getting smaller and smaller each day. For I know that one day, all that I'm left with would be eraser shavings and memories of what I used to have.
Moral: We never know the love of our parents for us till we have become parents.

!!!!! Ten steps to reach your dream goal !!!!!

Everyone follows different paths to reach their financial goals. While some prefer to invest in ‘safe’ assets others prefer riskier alternatives, and many believe in putting off larger expenses till their goals are met. No matter which method is used, there are some basic areas that need to be addressed to meet one’s financial goals. 

Define financial goals :
Goals should not be vague such as retirement or a better home. It should be specific, say, “I need to save Rs 5 crore for my retirement” or “I want to buy an independent 3 bedroom house in XYZ area”. The clearer the goals, the easier it is to plan and achieve them. 

Create a financial plan :
Review current investments, insurance, and other assets before making the plan. Decide on the investment avenues that will be used to achieve the goal. This will be based on your risk profile, age, earning capacity, tax bracket. 

Risk tolerance :
Do an assessment of the level of risk you are willing to take. Typically, higher risk assets yield higher returns and vice versa. If you are able to get a good night’s sleep while investing in riskier assets, then equity-based products are a good option, else it is better to invest in safer debt-based investment products. 

Make a budget : 
This is one of the most important steps towards achieving one’s financial goals. A proper budget will help in ensuring that savings and investments are done regularly as well as keep unnecessary expenses and debt at bay. It is important to check the budget on a weekly and monthly basis to see if your expenses are within the budget or if they have gone over your income. 
If you are in the green (income is greater than expenses) then your budget is working for you, but if you are in the red (with expenses more than income), then it is time to rationalise spending. 

Automate Investments :
It is advisable to invest on a monthly basis (through a systematic investment plan), as this will give one the double benefit of regular investment, or discipline in investments, and compounding. It will also negate the need to time the markets. Ideally, you should automate this process by a direct ECS transfer to avoid any last minute delays in investing. 

Invest from an early age :
Starting to invest early will give you the benefit of compounding. An additional few years will result in substantial difference in the value of the investment over a period of time. For example, if investor A starts investing Rs 50,000 per year at age 30 and investor B starts investing the same amount at age 35, when they both reach the age of 55, investor A has a corpus of Rs 61 lakh while investor B has only Rs 40 lakh (assuming both earned 8 per cent interest per annum). This shows that even a few years can make a substantial impact in the long run. 

Diversify :
Always seek to diversify portfolio, since one asset class could perform well, while others are posting low returns. Diversifying can help in reducing the risk in the portfolio, and give better returns over the long run. Ideally, your portfolio should be a mix of debt, equity, real estate, and commodities. 

Time horizons :
When making investments, time horizons need to be kept in mind. It is advisable not to invest money that is required for short term needs such as purchasing a car or digital camera, spending on a vacation, and such in equities as these are riskier in the short run. 
Long term investment goals can be met with riskier assets, as over the long run equities are likely to give better returns. 

Emergency fund : 
This is an important aspect of financial planning. You should always keep aside some money for emergencies in a liquid form (ideally in cash in a separate savings account). Ideally you should save four to six months’ of living expenses in this account. 

Review :
It is crucial to regularly review the portfolio, as what is a good investment today might not be the best investment a year or two hence. You can either monitor and re balance the portfolio on a yearly basis, or based on the values of various asset classes in the portfolio.

Psychologists Say..........